Contact details

Dr Daqing Ma

Senior Lecturer
Division of Surgery, Oncology, Reproductive Biology and Anaesthetics

Tel: +44 (0)20 8746 8495
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Dr Daqing Ma

Three research areas that I am interested are ongoing as follows:

I. Organoprotection

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the world and is also associated with loss of function, independence and quality of life. Also, perinatal hypoxia-ischaemia (H/I) remains a frequent cause of acute mortality and chronic neurological morbidity in infants and children all over the world. kidney transplantation is a cost-effective intervention for the treatment of end-stage renal failure. However, ischaemia/reperfusion injury (IRI), as a consequence of prolonged ischaemia (during cold preservation) followed by warm revascularization of the graft, can result in primary dysfunction of the transplanted graft.

The big advantage for currently used anaesthetics acting as organoprotectant is because their rapid onsite effect. There are lots of evidence showing that anaesthetics do produce cell phenotype changes or up-regulate cellular signals. Those changes can enhance cellular tolerance to ischemic insult. I have been working in this area during last 7 years and I plan to continue work in the stroke, neonatal asphyxia and kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury research area for the future. 

II. POCD and AD

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is independently associated with poor short-term and long-term outcomes including an increased risk of mortality and premature unemployment. Our published work has shown that surgical procedures and/or surgical trauma may trigger a cognitive decline that is associated with a hippocampal inflammatory response, attributable most likely to pro-inflammatory cytokine-dependent activation of glial cells. Inflammation is also a prominent feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in tandem with the accumulation of beta-amyloid, which is believed to be central to the pathogenesis of AD. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suggest that POCD and AD may share certain neuropathological and biochemical mechanisms. However, the lack of direct evidence demonstrating the involvement of AD-like pathogenic mechanisms renders this speculation untenable. It is my intention to be active in this area .

III. Anaesthetics and Cancer

The process of surgery along with anaesthesia is a very complex one leading to a profound neuroendocrine, metabolic, and cytokine response. It is extremely important to know the effects of anaesthetics (or techniques) and/or surgery on cancer outcomes in order to diminish any postoperative complications.